As spring closes, many more misses than hits

Fishing has been hit or miss, partly due to the weather changes that have taken place.

Wayne Hooper

Fishing has been hit or miss, partly due to the weather changes that have taken place.

I recently pre-fished Moose Pond in Bridgton, Maine, for three hours prior to an upcoming tournament and I caught four fish — two that weighed 4 pounds, one that hit the scales at a whopping 1 pound and another that weighed 2-plus. More than 11 pounds in an hour. Why? Because the fish were feeding heavily after the spawning season had ended.

The water temperature was 77 degrees and there wasn't a breeze to be found. Plus, the lake was flat and the air temperature was 80 degrees. A picture perfect day and cooperating fish — "It don't get any better than that." I spent the other two hours checking out spots that we know hold fish, but I did not try to catch any fish that I saw, as I did not want or need to hook them.

When I reported back to Casey about my success, he was psyched and couldn't wait until tournament day. The tournament day weather forecast was for light winds, temperatures in the mid-70s and cloudless skies.

The day turned out to be terrible. Winds that gusted to 35 miles per hour, strong sustaining winds all day, bright sunshine and air temperatures that started in the 50s and ended in the low 70s. The area that we fished first did not produce a bite. After three hours of pounding waves we left and headed out to our second spot only to see two boats in and around it. We turned and headed to our third spot and, after a half-hour of casting to docks, I caught a smallmouth that weighed in at 2.66,pounds and took lunker smallmouth for the day.

We then decided to fish a long shoreline that I knew held fish of three pounds and under but we were desperate to catch a limit. After that we could go lunker hunting. Well, we caught a limit but could not find any big fish.

We believe the reason for our lack of success was that the nighttime temperature had dropped into the high 40s for two nights in a row and the winds helped to scatter the fish into deeper water.

Since that tournament, I have checked out all the local bass tournament fishermen and they all agree that the bass have either gone to safety under the lily pads or have dropped down into deeper water. Why the difference? Well, it depends on where they were born. Fish that were spawned in deep water have that ingrained into their brains and will return to that area when they sense storms. Bass that spawned in shallow water tend to stay near where they were born. Much of this has to do with their comfort zone.

Shallow water bass prefer to hide under docks — so the eagles, hawks and osprey can't see them — in the lily pads, rocks or in and around wood, such as stumps and fallen trees.

Catching them is much easier when they are in shallow waters, as pitching or flipping a creature bait can be most productive. For those of you that don't know what a creature bait is, it is a soft plastic bait that resembles a crawfish, a lizard, a deformed grub or creatures from a horror movie.

Some days, a slim profile of a stick bait works better, and other days a bulky profile of a creature works better. I have better luck with creature baits on certain waters than others for reasons I can't figure out. I think if you hit them on the head or throw the bait close to their home area they will strike it to either kill it, teach it a lesson or eat it. As long as I catch fish, I'm good.

So, the spring season has been a disaster for Casey and me, but now we move into what I consider to be our money-making time, We have won more tournaments during summer than all the other seasons combined. Whether it is because we are not shivering with the cold rains and winds of spring and fall, or just because we are much more comfortable in shorts and tees, who knows? Whatever the reason, though, we are now about to either climb the ladder of success or fall into the depths of Loserville.

Only time will tell.

Wayne Hooper is a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association and a lifelong Seacoast resident. He can be reached at sports@seacoastonline.com.

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